


Lessons in Thievery

by Marf_Redux



Series: LiT Verse [1]
Category: Gambit (Comic), New Mutants (Comics), X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Past Relationship(s), Past Remy/Rogue, Past Sam/Berto, Past Sam/Lila, characters doing illegal things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-11 17:26:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20549933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marf_Redux/pseuds/Marf_Redux
Summary: An unexpected relationship forms in the weeks after Cannonball asked Gambit to give him a refresher course on breaking and entering.





	1. Part One of Five

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are disabled. I have my reasons for this and they are in my profile if you simply must know why. I tell you this so you will be forewarned in case you don't want to read fics that disable them.
> 
> Kudos are appreciated and thank you in advance to anyone who leaves them.
> 
> This is set in a world where House of M didn't happen so the state of the X-verse just before that is the best guide for this universe.

Lessons in Thievery  
Part One of Five

“Don’t you think that was a bit much for a test,” Sam Guthrie said as he sat the portable hard drives onto the desk. “That security system could have been lethal if I had made a mistake, we don’t actually know for sure if I’m immortal or not.” The blond man looked incredibly annoyed. “I mean if that’s the security you keep on your thieves guild mansions no wonder no one ever steals from you.”

“That wasn’t one of our mansions,” he said casually. “I told you when you managed to get through one of them last month that the real hard stuff would come next.” He saw the realization dawning on Sam’s face. “This was an actual job, one Xavier had asked me to do but I thought it might be a good test to see if you were up to it.”

“So you sent me out to break into an actual mansion with that kind of security under the belief that it was just a training exercise?” He could clearly see that Sam was annoyed. “I’m starting to think that when I asked you to help me brush up on my breaking and entering skills that it might have been a mistake.” He looked down at the hard drive on the desk. “Care to tell me what you had me steal?”

“That guys a world class money launderer and Xavier thinks he’s helping anti mutant business owners covertly support folks like the purifiers and friends of humanity,” He didn’t bother to defend himself or apologize he’d told Sam what he was getting into when he asked him for help. “We’ll use the information on that drive to cut off the money supporting them.”

Sam nodded and then yawned stretching, “Can I take a shower here or are you expecting company?” Sam was glancing about the room obviously looking for Rogue who had been here the last time he dropped by. 

“I won’t be having company from her again for a while,” he said after a moment. “We are officially on the outs again.” Sam nodded sympathetically but knew enough not to say anything more. “So the shower is yours if you want it.” He watched Sam leave the office grabbing his duffel bag on the way.

He did his best to ignore the ache of missing Rogue and knowing it would be for the best if they stayed broken up. It certainly wasn’t a good time to dwell on it when the cause of the latest break up was on his way to get naked in his bathroom right now. Rogue hadn’t approved when Sam had shown up asking for a refresher course on some of his skills and he’d said yes. He’d actually been impressed with how much the other man already knew about his profession. Of course eventually he’d learned that Sam had spent some time with Pete Wisdom learning the black ops game and there was plenty of over lap in their skill sets.

He’d been on an x-men team with Sam before but this was the first time they’d spent any real time one and one and he found he liked the guy. They both had grown up in an environment where family came first and blood feuds were not unheard of. The sweet good southern boy motif also hid someone who had been trained by Xavier, Magneto, Cable and several others so Sam was incredibly skilled. It was fun to work with a professional and see how far he could push him. Sam was also attractive enough so it wasn’t a surprise he’d developed a slight crush it was nothing new he had always enjoyed attractive folks who caught his interest. 

The problem was that despite mostly having her power under control Rogue picked up on things and her getting a flash of a brief fantasy about Sam had started them fighting. He knew he had a bad reputation but he was capable of being faithful but she hadn’t believed him when he said that crush or no crush he wasn’t trying to take advantage of Sam. He was just helping him sharpen some skills he hadn’t used in a while.

After Sam had dropped by late one night to ask his advice on something Rogue had finally had enough and broken it off again. He hated that he’d seen it coming and been unable to do anything about it. He forced himself to stop thinking about the repeating nature of their failed relationship and pull up the system so he could send the data Sam had stolen to Xavier’s technicians. He knew he’d have more work in a few days after Xavier’s crew found the best targets to hit to redirect the money from funding hate groups to helping mutant charities instead. 

It would also have the benefit of leaving several anti mutant bigots broke without any way to report the money stolen because after all if they did then the whole supporting hate groups thing would come out. Sure plenty of people unfortunately wouldn’t care about where the money was going only that it was being illegally stolen from their workers. He was just glad Xavier had stopped trying to sway public opinion by leaking this information to the news instead of just using it to hurt the bigots involved in their bank accounts. The only thing they really cared about.

Once the files were on their way he left the computer to do its thing and headed toward his kitchen. He could really use a drink right now. He paused by his open bed room door to see Sam’s bag on his bed with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt laid on the bed. He ignored the ready made fantasy aspect off it and continued down the hall. He hadn’t bothered to get an apartment with a guest room this time because it only ever encouraged family to crash at his place when they were in the city. Still at times like this he wished he did have a guest room it would save Sam a trip back to the mansion in the middle of the night.

He grabbed a beer wanting something stronger but deciding against it this late and began to head back to his work station to finish up. He glanced into his room again and saw Sam in a pair of blue boxer-briefs toweling his hair off. “Thanks for letting me use the shower,” Sam called to him having apparently seen him walking by. “I’ll just get dressed and head back to the mansion.”

“No problem, and if you want you can crash here instead of making the trip back,” he said and immediately regretted it. He didn’t even have a couch large enough for the other man to sleep on they’d have to share the bed.

“Thanks but I’ve got a class early and I know you like to sleep in,” Sam said completely at ease. “Oh before I forget if you need any help with any other actual jobs feel free to ask.” Sam then flashed a wicked smile, “Just let me know it is an actual job and don’t spring it on me by surprise again Remy ok?”

“Course Cher,” he said relaxing a bit. “And perhaps you’ll join me for a night out on the town that isn’t all about breaking and entering some time?” He knew he was stepping close to a line he shouldn't but he really didn’t care.

“Sounds fun,” Sam said as he pulled on his jeans, t-shirt and set down to pull o his socks and shoes. “Anyway I’ll lock the door on my way out so you can get back to work.” He nodded and headed back to his small office. He knew Rogue would be pissed if he started hanging out with Sam socially but he could really use a friend. He ignored how Rogue would say he wasn’t looking for a friend.


	2. Part Two of Five

Lessons in Thievery  
Part Two of Five

He made it out of his morning class without yawning too much in front of the students at least. He should have taken Remy up on his offer to sleep over by the time he’d made it back to the mansion and gotten to sleep it had nearly been time to wake up. “You look like me when I’m having shedding problems big brother?” Paige said from behind him. “I guess you had a late night with your new girlfriend.”

“I don’t have a new girlfriend,” he said to his sister wishing she and the others would let it go. “I’ve just been doing a lot of practicing of rusty skills at night.” He could tell that his sister didn’t believe him at all. 

“Yeah sure, of course I believe you,” Paige said with a wink as she walked off. “But sooner or later Mom is going to demand to meet whoever your dating especially if you keep showing up half asleep to the occaisional Sunday dinner after these training sessions of yours.”

“Again I do not have a girlfriend,” He said knowing it was pointless but if he didn’t say anything in response it would be taken as an admission of guilt. He was wondering if Paige was going to keep pestering him or if she’d finally let it go.

“Maybe he doesn't have a girlfriend but instead a boyfriend,” a voice said and he turned to see Tabitha standing there with a big smile. “I mean you haven’t dated many guys since that week you and Berto tried it out and decided you were better as just friends.” Trust his ex to make things even more awkward with his family. 

“That would explain why he’s being so secretive,” Paige said smiling, “So whose the lucky guy or are you going to lie and say you weren’t a guys house last night?” He was never going to hear the end of this now he could tell just by the way she was smiling. 

“I do not have a boyfriend either and the guy whose house I was at is simply helping me brush up on some old skills.” He looked over at Tabitha, “you know how seriously I take being prepared and ready for anything.”

“That’s true but if your not talking about it then that means your learning skills your mother wouldn’t approve of,” Tabby said smiling. “Which means you won’t tell us what they are so we’ll keep teasing you about secret boyfriends instead because it is more fun.”

“Knock yourselves out,” he finally said after a moment. “I’m going to go catch a nap before my afternoon flight class.” He left his sister and one of his best friends laughing at him as he made his way toward the faculty quarters. 

He was nearly there when he ran into Rogue who seemed shocked to see him, “Excuse me, Rogue I was just going for a nap,” he said quickly. “It was a late night.” He didn’t miss the look on her face it was shocked and uncomfortable.

“I hope you don’t mind my asking Sam but Remy hasn’t done anything to make you uncomfortable while he’s helping you practice has he?” It was a strange question he knew form things Gambit had said that she didn’t approve him giving him lessons. 

“No, why do you ask?” He was curious where she was going with this. He really hoped he wasn’t about to get sucked up into Gambit and Rogue’s latest drama. He’d been on the side lines for a few of them and it tended to get messy.

“No reason really, its just really easy for Remy to seduce you into doing things without even meaning too,” Rogue said after a moment. “He’s very persuasive even when he doesn’t mean to be and he doesn’t always think things through.” Well so much for not getting sucked into the drama she clearly thought he and Gambit where sleeping together. 

“I’m not sleeping with your ex Rogue,” he said as quietly as he could. “He’s just helping me brush up on some old skills.” She didn’t look completely convinced but she nodded. “Now if you’ll excuse me I’ve only got a few hours before my next class and I really need some sleep.”

He went into his room and stripped off his jacket, belt, gloves and boots. He was too tired to take off the rest of his uniform and just laid down on the bed. Years of sleeping in most of his uniform while Cable had them on high alert meant he’d gotten used to sleeping like this.

Still he was having trouble falling asleep because now he had a problem to deal with. Rogue thought he was sleeping with Remy which meant he was going to get sucked up in their drama. So the smart thing to do would be to drop the lessons because he’d already refreshed the thievery skills he’d learned from Pete Wisdom. However, he didn’t want to stop the lessons Remy was light years better than Wisdom at the breaking and entering side of things it was like the difference between a jack of all trades mechanic and a man who only worked on one model. He had already learned things he doubted even Wisdom could do and you never knew when that would come in handy. Plus he liked hanging out with Remy and he was pretty sure the other man enjoyed his company too. Which is probably what Rogue picked up on and since they were on the off cycle of their on again off again train wreck of a relationship that was probably why she was jealous.

He shook himself and forced it all out of his mind using Askani meditation exercises that Cable had taught him. He would deal with making a decision about this mess when he was well rested and for that he needed to actually take the nap he was trying to take.


	3. Part Three of Five

Lessons in Thievery  
Part Three of Five

“You might want to find someone else to help with this,” Sam said looking at the plans again. “This job looks like it may be out of my league.” He could understand the other man’s nervousness this security system was one of the best he’d ever seen and cracking it would be a two man job.

“Your more than good enough Cher,” he said and meant it. “I wouldn’t ask you otherwise and frankly your blast shield might come in handy if we slip up.” He certainly wouldn’t mind someone with an indestructible field of energy having his back on this mission. “But if you really don’t want to do this I can find someone else.”

Sam looked thoughtful for a moment, “it isn’t that I don’t want to do this but...” he trailed off a bit. “Anyway when would we do this that place is always crawling with people including our target most of the time and we definitely can’t break in while they are there.”

“That’s easy we pick one of these dates,” He said sliding over the schedule. “That street will be used in four major events over the next two months an anti capitalist demonstration in a few days, a gay pride parade in about two and a half weeks, a street fair early next month and an anti mutant march at the end.” He could see from Sam’s face how much that last one bugged him. “The owner always clears out and goes to one of his other residences during the day before and after big events because like most rich snobs he doesn’t like mingling with rabble even if he agrees with them.” He had to smirk at that. “We’ll take advantage of his fear of getting caught up in what’s going on.” He smiled at Sam as he said, “we will just blend in with the out of town crowd showing up for one of the events.”

“Well your eyes make it difficult for us to show up during the anti mutant protest,” Sam said clearly thinking. “And the anti capitalist march is too soon we wouldn't have everything ready so Street fair or gay pride parade would be our best bet.” He knew what he’d prefer to pick but he’d let Sam make the decision since he was dragging him along on this. “Which would you prefer?”

“I think we should go with the street fair,” he said lying easily. “We can take some of the other guild members and kids along as cover.” He watched as Sam’s frown deepened. “What you disagree?” He said it easily.

“You said you didn’t want to involve your guild in x-men business or x-men in your guild business,” Sam was giving him a hard look. “And the gay pride parade would be perfect cover since we’d just be two more fit men with spandex in our luggage arriving in town.” He should have known Sam would see it easily. “I suppose this has something to do with whatever train wreck is going on between you and Rogue at the moment.”

“So she asked if I was taking advantage of you,” he said figuring Rogue must have gone and talked to him. He saw Sam’s eyes widen in a bit of surprise. He guessed Rogue hadn’t asked or at least hadn’t framed it that way.

“She clearly thought we were sleeping together and warned me you could seduce me into things without meaning to but she didn’t phrase it like that,” Sam said clearly deep in thought, “does she think I’m a little kid or something.”

“Don’t be too hard on her mon ami,” he said quickly. “Rogue has trust issues with anyone I get along too well with.” He sighed, “it is one of the reasons we will never work long term because she will never trust that I won’t act on any attractions she accidentally picks up on.”

“So your attracted to me,” Sam said zeroing in on that easily. “Good, that will make playing a convincing gay couple easier.” He was a bit surprised at how cavalier Sam was being about this. “We should be able to have everything ready by the time of the parade for this job.”

“You won’t be uncomfortable playing that kind of roll?” He asked honestly because one of the number one reasons a con would fail is folks attempting to do something that made them uncomfortable. “At an event like this they’ll expect two catches like us playing a couple to be very physically affectionate.”

“I’m bi, cajun I’ve been with men before,” Sam said easily and then shook his head. “The only thing making me uncomfortable is wondering how badly Rogue is going to react when we leave on our vacation.” Sam was shaking his head, “I mean given the evil shit this guy’s done, we have to do this job to stop him but I am not looking forward to dealing with your relationship drama.”

“Fair enough,” he said a bit surprised to learn Sam swung both ways normally he was quicker to pick up on those kind of things. “and don’t worry none, I’ll handle Rogue.” It was clear form Sam’s face that he didn’t believe him but at least he didn’t say as much.

They went back to discussing the security system then and how much of a pain it was going to be. He had to admit this bigot had one of the better systems he’d seen. Some time later he glanced at the clock to see it was much later than he expected. “I’ll repeat the offer I made last time sleep here instead of making the trip back.”

“Maybe next time,” Sam said after a moment. “You need to explain to and handle things with Rogue before I cause a major scene by staying over.” He nodded in response as he watched Sam go. He found his thoughts drifting to the fact that Sam knew he was attracted to him and wasn’t bothered. He found himself wondering what it would be like to actually date Sam they had plenty of interest in common but some how he didn’t think it was likely with how determined Sam seemed to be to avoid his drama with Rogue.


	4. Part Four of Five

Lessons in Thievery  
Part Four of Five

“So how did Rogue take it when you told her where we’d be going,” he asked Remy as he passed him his scotch from the bar he looked like he needed it. Remy didn’t reply just downed it in one go which meant it hadn’t gone well at all. “That bad huh?”

“She accused me of using this heist to get into your pants,” Remy said softly. “She said only I would come up with using a gay pride parade as a cover for a job.” He looked away, “She really didn’t like it when I mentioned you picked the event and that there was another option you turned down.” He sighed, “Rogue is taking a harder line on my faults this time than usual, maybe it’s finally over for good.” He shook his head then, “I don’t know why I keep going back it is a never ending cycle of us hurting each other.”

“Because you hope that this time it’ll be different,” he said and saw Remy look surprised. “It is the same with me and Lila we break up, drift apart, get close again and then start dating again only to repeat it all over again.” He laughed, “Though we don’t cause quiet as much drama as you two do probably because we don’t work together and Lila has her intergalactic Rockstar gig to disappear into.” He had to smirk a bit as he looked at Remy, “I don’t know how the two of you do it being on the same team so soon after a break up.”

“I’m used to it,” the other man said and then stood up. “We need to stop all this talking about all this and remember why we are here.” He looked out at the dance floor where a large number of same sex couples were dancing. “We came here to practice looking like a couple and right now we just look like two guys grousing about break ups.”

He finished his own drink and stood up himself, “your right let’s go dance.” He grabbed Remy’s hand and drug him out onto the dance floor. The sad truth was that he was a poor white boy from Kentucky who worked in the mines from the time he was sixteen until Pierce found him. He’d only learned to dance at Berto and Dani’s insistence and he’d never been that great at it. 

Of course Remy like anything using his body was a natural at it and it was almost possible to forget how silly he probably looked when that was dancing with you and paying attention to you. He let himself get carried away in the fantasy that this was more than just practice for a performance. He’d long ago learned the easiest trick to fooling others was to fool yourself. Not completely of course but just enough to convince the world but not enough to hurt yourself when the job was done. He’d originally intended to fall back on his experience with Berto or his other short lived relationships with men but they were different. 

Berto had been his friend first and while there was definitely attraction and the sex had been great it clearly kept falling back into just friends with added sex which could be nice but wasn’t what he wanted for a relationship. Then with the others it was more about physical need and a brief release not any kind of relationship. He and Remy were going to pretend to be a more traditional couple and the problem he realized as he pulled the other man against him was that they really could be. 

He had been hoping to avoid complications but as he stared at Remy’s half closed eyes he realized he had a freaking big one to deal with. He and Remy had started to become friends but they weren’t not really not enough that it would be weird to get involved and the attraction was there for sure. He pulled away from the other man and walked back to the table surprised no one had taken it. Of course He wasn’t surprised when a confused Remy followed him. “I think we have a problem.” He said as the other man joined him. “I don’t know if I can do this.” 

“What’s the matter,” Remy asked concern evident in his tone. “If I got a bit too handsy I can tone it down.” He had certainly noticed Remy’s hands on him but that wasn’t the problem. “What’s the matter mon ami?”

“I think I’m kind of falling for you,” he finally said glancing at Remy. “And it is the fucking worst time because we have a job to do and even if we didn’t now is definitely not a good time.” He laid his head down on the table. “Who would have thought lessons in thievery could lead to this headache.”

He turned his head and looked up at the other man who was watching him intently. “You really mean that your interested in this for real instead of just as a con?” It was odd to hear him say it like that but he nodded his head. “Then Cher why don’t we go for it?”

“Plenty of reasons it could complicate things on the job and there’s your relationship baggage and I’ve got plenty of my own to add to things.” He could tell his statement had hurt Remy. “I mean do you want to go down this road it could get really messy.”

“Mon ami the best things usually do,” Remy said with a shrug. “I’ve been enjoying this a lot but I’ve always had in the back of my head that it isn’t real and we’d probably stop hanging out after this was done.” Remy looked kind of lost, “I’m not good with making lasting friends and I’m not any better with relationships but I’m willing to try and it may not be the best start but I want to try it with you.”

He took a deep breath to get his courage up, “you know what let’s go for it.” He said after a moment and was rewarded with one hell of a kiss from the other man. He pulled back, “But we aren’t sleeping together until after the job we have to have the plan down perfectly, my ma will kill me if I end up wanted by the police.” He could see the other man smirking. “And she’d do it right after she killed you.” The smirk vanished then.


	5. Chapter 5

Lessons in Thievery  
Part Five of Five

An almost universal misconception about his work as a thief was that emotions got in the way of things. The truth like anything was how you handled them used right they could make you sharper as long as you controlled them not the other way around. He’d seen all sorts of badly researched fiction where two folks attracted to each other would end up kissing in the too tight air vent or any other thing that would ruin a job. Any professional worth anything could work with their dream lover and not be detracted because they would know the only way you get any chance with them going forward is not getting caught. 

His father had drilled into his head during training not to suppress all emotions like the fictional super thieves but to simply acknowledge them, use the convenient ones and move on to do the job. He had enjoyed watching Sam pull on the very tight suit that ensured they wouldn't leave a biological trace but once they started work he was focused on work. 

He was pleased that Sam could do the same the man was as good as guild thief and had a level of focus that a lot of them would kill for. In no time at all the job was done and they were back in their hotel room with plenty of time to get ready for their appearance at the pride parade. They had arrived a few days ago and made sure to play up the couple angle eating in restaurants and shopping for souvenirs to send back home to friends. Sam was playing the just out of the closet southern boy with a more experienced lover perfectly. 

The job itself had gone quickly with only the usual hang ups. The occasional unexpected censor or the modified from standard wiring box but experience made them easy to deal with. It had frankly been harder getting from the hotel to the building and back without being scene on any CCTV. Even with the map of the camera’s provided by Xavier and other sources it had been a very twisted route.

So for the next week or so as the bigot moved his money around they’d be able to track it and the virus they’d planted would do it’s work so in less than a month. Every drop of the bigots personal finances would vanish into several pro mutant charities and his embezzling from his company would be exposed. He knew Xavier had picked this one to make an example of since the company was likelyto survive even as their target did jail time and not result in major unemployment that might help anti mutant sentiment.

He wasn’t sure leaving a massive company founded by a bigot around was a good thing but he was glad the job was done and all that was left was the final alibi. He was especially looking forward to it so they could transition from just acting to actually being involved. He glanced over where Sam was standing in just his underwear carefully packing the suits, the tools and the drives holding the stolen data into boxes to ship back home. 

It was a guild trick he’d unfortunately had to use a lot. His eyes marked him as a mutant so it wasn’t unusual for cops to make an excuse to search his bags at the air port. So it was often easier to simply send the stuff back hidden in with a bunch of packages containing gifts and other knick knacks. He walked over and looked to see exactly which boxes Sam was packing them in and had to smile. “With a bunch of sex toys Sam, Henry is going to love that.” Since the suits and equipment were Beast’s work, he’d been adamant that they be returned.

“It is skin tight rubber suits with a full face mask, a sex thing is the easiest thing to disguise them as,” Sam said giving him a quick kiss. “Now let’s get this taped up and dressed so we can drop it off on the way to the parade.” Sam then winked at him, “Because this isn’t just our alibi it is also our first real date no more putting things off.” There was a lot of promise in that wink. 

“Why don’t I join you in the bath then seems a shame not to use that whirlpool tub at least a few times before we leave tomorrow?” He was hoping Sam would say yes because he had been looking forward to this ever since Sam had revealed he was falling for him.

“I think that’s a very good idea,” Sam said from the door way.. He smiled himself and followed the other man into the bathroom. It was looking like it was going to be a hell of a pride.

The End


End file.
